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Post by cj59 on Jan 17, 2017 19:44:46 GMT
Hi wwlurker - I give you a lot of credit for giving up soda. I have to have at least one diet coke a day - but at least I have it down to about 1-2 cups of it, compared to the days when all I did was drink it all day long! I'd also have trouble giving up my artificial sweeteners, but I'm sure it would be healthier not to use them. I hope you see a loss or maintaining at the scale tomorrow. You sound like you are making good choices. It's such a learning process for us with food, isn't it? I went out to lunch with my cousin today. We went to Arby's so we could get their Fish Sandwich which is out now. I got mine without the tartar sauce so that saved some calories. But afterwards we stopped by a place that sells homemade donuts and ice cream - probably not a smart place to go when on a diet I did get one pint of ice cream and two small donuts. For the donuts, I brought them home and cut away part of the plain donut part to throw away, so at least that cut the calories in half. I've gotten better and portioning out ice cream into 1/4 or 1/2 cup servings, so hopefully I'll do O.K. with that too. I want to be able to have some foods like this in my house and enjoy them and fit them into my daily/weekly eating. I don't think I can just look at food as fuel source, for me it will also be something that gives me pleasure - so I have to learn to enjoy the pleasure in a controlled way.
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Post by wwlurker on Jan 18, 2017 14:04:25 GMT
cj59 - soda is rough; I love it so much. This plan has me drinking so much water, I feel like there's no room for other drinks. I would love to be able to have certain foods in the house. There are some things that I simply have difficulty controlling myself around. I found out last week that I don't do well with olives in the house, unless they are sliced. I seem to be able to handle those. I also can't have a brick of feta in the house, but the dry crumbles are ok. I used to have a thing with ice cream and sweets, but this plan has me on such low sugar that I don't really crave that stuff anymore, so that's good. But, once I do have them, I find portion control difficult. I was up 0.4 today. All things considered, I was ok with that. It wasn't my best week and there is a lot of room for improvement. I've noticed that I've been doubling up on snacks - so I have to cut that out. That, coupled with my few transgressions, made for a slight gain. It's a process and I'm trying to look at it as a long term project. I'm not striving for perfection 100% of the time, but I am looking to do my best and if I'm honest, this week wasn't my best. This coming week should be ok - I don't have many events or challenges - one catered lunch. My consultant said to have my catered sandwich and not worry about it.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 18, 2017 20:10:38 GMT
Hi wwlurker - I really like your attitude with how you are working this plan. You seem to be really aware of what you're doing and what is working and isn't working for you. Hopefully that will continue to help you going forward. I hope the next week is a good one for you There are things I can't have in the house either, like more than one donut or a coffee cake. I really miss my sweets, but I agree that your taste buds and craving do tend to become less than they were. I drink a lot of water too, so my one/two cups of diet coke at the end of the day is all of that I usually drink. I'm staying on track today, having a few feelings of wanting to overeat, but I'm not giving in to them
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Post by wwlurker on Jan 19, 2017 13:48:08 GMT
Good morning! Today is the start of my new week. I have the catered lunch, which I'm not going to worry about, and that's about it for challenges this week. cj59 - thanks. I think that I know how I sabotage myself and I know why I do the things that I do. I still struggle - but I usually am aware of why I'm struggling and what I'm doing wrong. I missed the gym due to an early conference call this morning. I've been thinking that I haven't been working from home very often lately. I'd like to start doing that more often. I like to try to work from home once per week in a perfect world. It just gives an opportunity to get stuff done that takes long chunks of concentration. The office is full of interruptions. It also helps that I can do laundry, meal prep or anything else I need to get done around the house while I work - I just use my breaks to do that stuff. My goal for this week is to reign it in and follow the program more closely. No more double snacks. No more going off program after dark on weekends. Little/no alcohol this week. All of the things that I know that I should be doing.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 19, 2017 22:03:19 GMT
Hi wwlurker - It's always nice to start a new week. Sounds like you are motivated to stay on plan, I wish you the best with that I'm doing well today, and staying on track. I'm using some extra point today and will cut back on them the next few days. I had a lot of success earlier in this process with having higher and lower point days. So I like to try it sometimes with my weekly points.
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Post by wwlurker on Jan 20, 2017 13:58:53 GMT
Good morning! Checking in. cj59 - I like mixing it up too. I don't get to do that so much with this plan, as it's so regimented, but I do think that the indulgences I have (like my delicious catered lunch yesterday) help to keep things moving, as long as I don't let those higher calorie days derail me (which has also been known to happen). Today I made it to the gym, so that was great to get that out of the way. I have a delicious lunch packed (spaghetti squash with marinara and bean balls), and tonight is family movie night. I have to figure out a plan for healthy movie night dinner/snacks. No alcohol this weekend though. I feel like I do better when I stay away from it. Also, I have a few challenges coming up in the next two weeks. Next weekend is my son's birthday, and we'll have company for the weekend. The following week, a friend is coming to visit for the weekend (not staying with me) and a bunch of us are going to a wine fair. I'm sure that there will be some debauchery there, so I'm trying to stay on track as much as possible this week. I'll have to come up with a couple of game plans for the next two weekends.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 20, 2017 22:12:53 GMT
Hi wwlurker - Sounds like you are doing well. It's good that you are already trying to make plans to deal with the events coming up. I think this is something we'll have to do forever. I'm planning to go out tomorrow and do some shopping and was thinking about eating lunch out. I checked a whole bunch of fast food places, but almost everything at them is so high in points (calories). It's really frustrating to know that I can't just pick whatever I want to eat when I'm out. But I know it's worth it to be healthier, but I'd still like to eat what I want Hope everyone checking in is doing well.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 21, 2017 22:45:40 GMT
Checking in for the day. I managed not to eat any high point (calorie) fast food today, so I'm taking that as a win I did get some frozen yogurt which I had planned for, and enjoyed that.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 22, 2017 20:05:59 GMT
Checking in This is the last day of my week, so hopefully I can stay on track and then be good for weigh-in tomorrow. I've had to fight a lot of urges to eat a bunch of junky snack food that I have in the house. I threw away one of them this morning and may have to throw away some more later, because I guess I'm not strong enough to avoid them. At least I recognize that and am taking action, so I guess I've learned something in this long almost two year process
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Post by wwlurker on Jan 22, 2017 20:26:18 GMT
Checking in!
I did much better this weekend than last weekend; I wasn't really off track at all other than a couple of chai lattes.
Did hot yoga as per my Sunday routine today. I'm noticing that things are getting easier in yoga, and I like it! I have lots of work to do, but I see progress. I have a couple of yoga goals that I'm working towards.
I took my measurements today. I was a bit disappointed with the numbers, but it's to be expected.
This week I'm hoping for a moderate loss as I have been doing well. Sometimes it's discouraging that I have so far to go - I'm not sure if I will keep interest long enough to make it to a healthy weight. It's like I get pleased with my progress and use that to say that I don't really have to do any more work. That's why the measurements were good - to reinforce that I really do have a long way to go.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 23, 2017 20:51:45 GMT
Hi wwlurker - I'm glad you had a good weekend and that you are enjoying your yoga routines. I've read that yoga can be very helpful.
I completely understand what you are saying about keeping the interest to get to a healthy weight. I feel like I'm finally at a healthier weight but my mind and body just wants to pull me back to that unhealthy place again. I can tell it's going to be a major struggle to keep from going backwards. Hopefully we can both be strong and make it.
Well I don't have days like this too often, thank goodness, but I feel like I could just totally go off the rails today and eat like crazy.
Part of the reason I want to do this is because I didn't have a weight loss this last week. I stayed the same and logically I know that is a good thing, but I guess I'll never get over the desire to see a loss after a week of working hard. I've had 3 weeks of losses, so a week of staying the same is usually what I have after that. I just need to keep reminding myself that staying the same is a good thing too.
I know the desire is emotionally based and not physically based, so I'm trying hard to deal with it. I did throw away some more junk food from the house, but have kept a few things that I really do want to eat in a controlled manner.
I wonder if I've just been too strict with myself for these past almost two years. I'm thinking about planning a meal once or twice a month where I can eat a higher calorie food - fast food or something I make and not worry about counting it. I've thought that if I start this then the week that I have this meal I would make sure to get more exercise in, which would hopefully counter the effects of higher calories. I guess I'd just have to try it and see.
I'm thankful that I have more days that are easier to stay on track, and just have to be strong on days like this.
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Post by wwlurker on Jan 24, 2017 14:18:00 GMT
Good morning! I'm feeling a bit frustrated today, as tomorrow is my WI and the scale hasn't been very cooperative this week. I'm mostly doing the right things and I'm down about a pound this week, so I should be satisfied. But, with as much weight as I have to lose I would like to see more movement (like 2 lbs a week). I know that there is a school of thought that you should be happy for any loss and it took a while to gain, so it's going to take a while to lose, etc., etc. but I can't help being a little impatient. cj59 - it will definitely take some playing around to figure out what works for you in maintenance. Are you officially trying to maintain yet, or do you have a bit longer to go? I would eat some higher calorie meals like you suggested, but still track them (no matter how ugly) and then jump right back on track. I have a bad habit of writing things like "Birthday" or "General Craziness" in my logs. My consultant laughs at them, but I know it's not helpful to anyone to do that. I think that it's better to be aware of it and track it honestly. I am having a lunch meeting today, with yet another catered lunch. I will eat whatever sandwich they get for me and move on. I'm a vegetarian, so hopefully it will be a veggie sandwich. Sometimes I get egg salad, which isn't very healthy. I love egg salad, but it's really not the best choice.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 25, 2017 1:08:51 GMT
Hi wwlurker - I'm sorry to hear you are frustrated, I know exactly what that feels like. We work so hard all week, and expect to see a nice loss, but it doesn't always happen. Hang in there Hope you enjoyed your lunch today.
I haven't started maintenance yet, I still can't figure out exactly what weight I want to be out. I'm trying to hang on at this calorie/point level until the first of March. That will be two years since I started on this last weight loss journey. I'll see where I'm at then and probably start working to maintain at that point. I'm pretty much happy where I am and I just want to see if I can maintain this loss.
I get very scared thinking about maintenance because I've never been successful at it and I really have to be this time. I think that is part of what is making me kind of crazy right now - the fear of gaining all the weight back again. It's almost like I try to sabotage myself.
Fortunately, today was a much better day, and I felt a lot stronger and in control of my eating. I keep telling myself that I need to control food, it can't control me, so I threw away all the junk except one thing that I believe I can control eating. If I find I have problems with it, I'll throw that out too.
Yesterday I added some exercise to make up for some of the junk food I ate too, so hopefully it will balance out. I told myself if I really wanted to eat that food, then I had to exercise more and I'm glad I stuck with that.
I had a challenge today for dinner, eating at a steakhouse, but I believe I made good choices, so I'm satisfied with what I ate and stayed on plan. I have one other meal out this week, at a burger place and I've already checked the menu online and have two choices for my meal, so I hope I'll do good on that day too.
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Post by wwlurker on Jan 25, 2017 14:05:16 GMT
Good morning! It's WI day for me.
I was down 2.8, which was surprising and I was pleased. Overall, my week was better than last week and I felt more in control. I didn't go off the rails at any point, which is good. There is still some tweaking to do. My snacks have been getting a bit more calorie dense (like dried chickpeas, larabars, trail mix), so I'd like to back those out a little bit.
Planning is a struggle for me, so I would like to get better plans in place for evening meals. DH is having a hard time with little guidance from me for dinners and three fickle kids. We can do better on that front.
DH and I have a bit of a game plan for this weekend so that I can loosely stay on plan while we have company. There will be birthday cake, but I'll try my best to limit it to one small piece.
If I can have a small loss this week (hopefully a pound) I'll be happy, given the challenges that I know I'm facing.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 25, 2017 22:33:13 GMT
wwlurker - Congratulations on the weight loss!! I'm sure it felt good to see some evidence of your hard work. Sounds like you are really working on meal planning, which I'm sure is challenging with a family to feed.. I know that meal planning helps me alot. I couldn't just "wing it" each day.
I agree with you on having some cake but limiting the amount. That's the way I want to live going into the future. Life would be so boring if I felt like I could never eat cake or something I really like again. It's just finding the balance to fit it into my food plan.
I'm doing well today and still feeling strong. I hope I don't have another day like Monday again, or at least not anytime soon. I bought a small treat at the grocery store today and I'm going to eat half today and half tomorrow. I avoided buying a bunch of other things that I picked up and put down again, since I knew I didn't need them.
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